Government's Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana update

India's flagship health insurance scheme may soon be extended to cover seven more unorganized sectors, as the government gradually expands its scope to include most of the workers engaged in informal vocations.

The labour ministry, in separate Cabinet notes, has proposed to expand the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to include rag pickers, rickshaw pullers, taxi and autorickshaw drivers, miners, sanitation workers and toddy workers.

"Our aim is to gradually cover all workers in the unorganised sector," a ministry official said. The ministry circulates separate Cabinet notes for individual sectors to ensure that if differences crop up among Cabinet members on a particular sector, it does not hold back approval for other sectors.